WORLD ROUNDUPLearning to Live with a Nuclear North Korea | CRINK’s Support of Iran’s Nuclear Capabilities | Modi’s Electoral Setback Leaves India’s Muslims Feeling More Secure, and more
· Modi’s Electoral Setback Leaves India’s Muslims Feeling More Secure
With the BJP constrained by its election setback and the influence of its coalition partners, most believe the concerns Indian Muslims harbored are unlikely to be realized
· Israeli Official Describes Secret Government Bid to Cement Control of West Bank
Israeli judges have long ruled that Israel’s control of the territory is a temporary military occupation and complies with international law. A powerful minister’s recent speech, caught on tape, suggested the government is trying to change that
· Learning to Live with a Nuclear North Korea
Insisting on denuclearization is a dead end in negotiations
· How Africa’s War on Disinformation Can Save Democracies Everywhere
African leaders can’t afford to wait for Big Tech. By taking action, the continent could spare future generations from the scourge of adversarial AI
· CRINK’s Support of Iran’s Nuclear Capabilities
China, Russia, and North Korea have provided essential support for the Iranian regime’s quest for nuclear capabilities
Modi’s Electoral Setback Leaves India’s Muslims Feeling More Secure (Shaikh Azizur Rahman, VOA News)
Muslims in India are feeling more secure about their future after last month’s national election in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP failed to win an outright majority in parliament, forcing it to form a coalition with other parties.
Before the election, national media had reported deep concerns among Muslims that the Hindu nationalist ruling party would meet expectations for a landslide victory, leaving it free to pursue policies that would further marginalize the Muslim minority.
But with the BJP constrained by its election setback and the influence of its coalition partners, most believe those concerns are unlikely to be realized.
Israeli Official Describes Secret Government Bid to Cement Control of West Bank (Natan Odenheimer, Ronen Bergman and Patrick Kingsley, New York Times)
An influential member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition told settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that the government is engaged in a stealthy effort to irreversibly change the way the territory is governed, to cement Israel’s control over it without being accused of formally annexing it.
In a taped recording of the speech, the official, Bezalel Smotrich, can be heard suggesting at a private event earlier this month that the goal was to prevent the West Bank from becoming part of a Palestinian state.
“I’m telling you, it’s mega-dramatic,” Mr. Smotrich told the settlers. “Such changes change a system’s DNA.”
While Mr. Smotrich’s opposition to ceding control over the West Bank is no secret, the Israeli government’s official position is that the West Bank’s status remains open to negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that Israel’s rule over the territory amounts to a temporary military occupation overseen by army generals, not a permanent civilian annexation administered by Israeli civil servants.
Mr. Smotrich’s June 9 speech at a West Bank gathering may make that posture harder to maintain. In it, he outlined a carefully orchestrated program to take authority over the West Bank out of the hands of the Israeli military and turn it over to civilians working for Mr. Smotrich in the defense ministry. Parts of the plan have already been incrementally introduced over the past 18 months, and some authorities have already been transferred to civilians.
